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Applications Of Nanobiotechnology in Medical and Clinical fields

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A number of clinical applications of nanobiotechnology, such as disease diagnosis, target-specific drug delivery, and molecular imaging are being laboriously investigated at present. Some new promising products are also undergoing clinical trials. Such advanced applications of this approach to biological systems will undoubtedly transform the foundations of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease in future. Some of these applications are discussed below.
  1. Diagnostic applications Current diagnostic methods for most diseases depend on the manifestation of visible symptoms before medical professionals can recognize that the patient suffers from a specific illness.
  2. Therapeutic applications:Nanotechnology can provide new formulations of drugs with less side effects and routes for drug delivery.
  3. Sparse cell detection Sparse cells are both rare and physiologically distinct from their surrounding cells in normal physiological conditions (e.g. cancer cells, lymphocytes, fetal cells and HIV-infected T cells). They are significant in the detection and diagnosis of various genetic defects.
  4. Protein chips Proteins play the central role in establishing the biological phenotype of organisms in healthy and diseased states and are more indicative of functionality. Hence, proteomics is important in disease diagnostics and pharmaceutics, where drugs can be developed to alter signaling pathways.
  5. Drug Delivery- Nanoparticles as therapeutics can be delivered to targeted sites, including locations that cannot be easily reached by standard drugs. For instance, if a therapeutic can be chemically attached to a nanoparticle, it can then be guided to the site of the disease or infection by radio or magnetic signals.
  6. Gene delivery Current gene therapy systems suffer from the inherent difficulties of effective pharmaceutical processing and development, and the chance of reversion of an engineered mutant to the wild type.
  7. Liposomes - liposome being composed of a lipid bilayer can be used in gene therapy due to its ability to pass through lipid bilayers and cell membranes of the target.

Nanomechanical Computing

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The Nanomechanics is interested in studying the behavior of advanced material systems at the nanoscale. Particular material systems of interest include polymers and polymer nanocomposites, as well as thin film and piezoelectric materials of interest in MEMS applications.

Nanomechanics is a branch of science studying fundamental mechanical (elastic, thermal and kinetic) properties of physical systems and engineered and biological nanostructures and nanosystems. Nano mechanics, in particular, is the study and characterization of the mechanical behaviour of individual atoms, systems and structures in response to various types of forces and loading conditions.

Nanomechanical Computing:

The impressive trend of packing more transistors continues with advances in foundry technologies. Now at 22 nm node, some of the current processors pack over a billion transistors in a chip. However, three other markers, clock speed, power consumption and performance have flat-lined for almost a decade since 2002-2003. For reference, the original 8086 processor drew about 1.84 W and Pentium-3 1 GHz processor drew 33 W. The CPU power consumption increased by 18x while the CPU frequency improved by 125x. However, this expanded version of Moore’s law collapsed in mid 2000’s, when power consumption and clock speed improvements stopped. Even with other advances such as new cache technology and invention of out-of-order execution, improvement in processor efficiency came to a standing halt. 

For instance, at 90 nm node, the transistor gates became too thin to prevent current from leaking into the substrate. Subsequent advances included innovations such as strained silicon, high-k dielectrics and FinFET. Currently, the 22nm node uses a three-dimensional transistor technology to continue with the thinning gap between the channel and the gate. However, all these innovations still have not managed to help continue the impressive trend of the expanded version of Moore’s law. For example, from 2007 to 2011, maximum CPU clock speed rose from 2.93GHz to 3.9GHz, an increase of 33%. From 1994 to 1998, CPU clock speeds rose by 300%. This problem has been acknowledged for almost two decades. In a sense, the community (led by Intel and AMD) has conceded defeat by switching to multi-core approaches, though the demonstrated benefits tantamount to incremental advances in architecture, compared to the expectations according to Moore’s law.

Carbon Nanotube

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A Carbon Nanotube is a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, having a diameter measuring on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about one ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair. The graphite layer appears somewhat like a rolled-up chicken wire with a continuous unbroken hexagonal mesh and carbon molecules at the apexes of the hexagons.

Carbon Nanotubes have many structures, differing in length, thickness, and in the type of helicity and number of layers. Although they are formed from essentially the same graphite sheet, their electrical characteristics differ depending on these variations, acting either as metals or as semiconductors.

As a group, Carbon Nanotubes typically have diameters ranging less than 1 nm up to 50 nm. Their lengths are typically several microns, but recent advancements have made the nanotubes much longer, and measured in centimeters.

Potential Applications for Carbon Nanotubes:

Carbon Nanotube Technology can be used for a wide range of new and existing applications:
  • Conductive plastics
  • Structural composite materials
  • Flat-panel displays
  • Gas storage
  • Antifouling paint
  • Micro- and nano-electronics
  • Radar-absorbing coating
  • Technical textiles
  • Ultra-capacitors
  • Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tips
  • Batteries with improved lifetime
  • Biosensors for harmful gases
  • Extra strong fibers
Research:
 
Researchers  are developing materials, such as a carbon nanotube-based composite developed by NASA that bends when a voltage is applied. Applications include the application of an electrical voltage to change the shape (morph) of aircraft wings and other structures.
Researchers have found that carbon nanotubes can fill the voids that occur in conventional concrete. These voids allow water to penetrate concrete causing cracks, but including nanotubes in the mix stops the cracks from forming.

Gold Nanoparticle

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Gold nano particle probes possess several properties that make them ideal for diagnostic applications:

Allows increased sensitivity by several orders of magnitude; light scattered from one nano particle is equivalent to the light emitted from 5x105 (500,000) fluorophores.  Tests that employ gold nano particles functionalized with antibodies, for example, are 2-3 orders of magnitude more sensitive than ELISA-based methods.

Enables high-specificity for both nucleic acid and protein detection.  For nucleic acid detection, single-base pair specificity is achieved due to assay reaction kinetics where gold nano particle probes, comprised of target-specific oligonucleotides, permit hybridization to target DNA over a very narrow temperature range.
Reduces background noise (i.e. signal-to-signal) due to minimal non-specific binding of the gold nanoparticle probes, which in turn, create an enhanced assay signal.Requires little or no inventory control.  The nanoparticle probes are extremely stable, have a long shelf-life, and are non-toxic.

Applications:

The range of applications for gold nano particles is growing rapidly and includes:
  • Electronics - Gold nano particles are designed for use as conductors from printable inks to electronic chips.1 As the world of electronics become smaller, nano particles are important components in the chip design. Nanoscale gold nano particles are being used to connect resistors, conductors, and other elements of an electronic chip.
  • Photodynamic Therapy - Near-IR absorbing gold nano particles (including gold nanoshells and nanorods) produce heat when excited by light at wavelengths from 700 to 800 nm. This enables these nanoparticles to eradicate targeted tumors.2 When light is applied to a tumor containing gold nanoparticles, the particles rapidly heat up, killing tumor cells in a treatment also known as hyperthermia therapy.
  • Therapeutic Agent Delivery - Therapeutic agents can also be coated onto the surface of gold nanoparticles.3 The large surface area-to-volume ratio of gold nanoparticles enables their surface to be coated with hundreds of molecules (including therapeutics, targeting agents, and anti-fouling polymers).
  • Sensors - Gold nanoparticles are used in a variety of sensors.
  • Probes - Gold nano particles also scatter light and can produce an array of interesting colors under dark-field microscopy. The scattered colors of gold nano particles are currently used for biological imaging applications.5 Also, gold nano particles are relatively dense, making them useful as probes for transmission electron microscopy.
  • Diagnostics - Gold nano particles are also used to detect biomarkers in the diagnosis of heart diseases, cancers, and infectious agents.6 They are also common in lateral flow immunoassays, a common household example being the home pregnancy test.
  • Catalysis - Gold nano particles are used as catalysts in a number of chemical reactions.7 The surface of a gold nano particle can be used for selective oxidation or in certain cases the surface can reduce a reaction (nitrogen oxides). Gold nano particles are being developed for fuel cell applications. These technologies would be useful in the automotive and display industry.

Nanoimprint Lithography

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Nanoimprint lithography, a high-throughput, low-cost, non conventional lithographic method proposed and demonstrated recently, has been developed and investigated further. Nanoimprint lithography has demonstrated 25 nm feature size, 70 nm pitch, vertical and smooth sidewalls, and  nearly 90° corners. Further experimental study indicates that the ultimate resolution of nanoimprint lithography could be sub-10 nm, the imprint process is repeatable, and the mold is durable. In addition, uniformity over a 15 mm by 18 mm area was demonstrated and the uniformity area can be much larger if a better designed press is used. Nanoimprint lithography over a nonflat surface has also been achieved.

Principles Of Nanoimprint Lithography:
 
Nanoimprint Lithography or NIL is a process used to fabricate nanoscale patterns typically used in the areas of electronics, optics, photonics or biology. It creates patterns by mechanically deforming an imprint resist that is typically made from a monomer or polymer and cured using UV light. The nanoimprint lithograpy process is characterized by low cost, high throughput and high resolution and is a much simpler process than its rival optical lithography.

Nanoimprint lithography has two basic steps . The first is the imprint step in which a mold with nanostructures on its surface is pressed into a thin resist cast on a substrate, followed by removal of the mold. This step duplicates the nanostructures on the mold in the resist film. In other words, the imprint step creates a thickness contrast pattern in the resist. The second step is the pattern transfer where an anisotropic etching process, such as reactive ion etching ~RIE!, is used to remove the residual resist in the compressed area. This step transfers the thickness contrast pattern into the entire resist .

NILT offers UV and thermal nanoimprint lithography and hot-embossing services based on commercially available nanoimprint lithography tools. Imprinting is offered on any substrate type and into any polymer material required.

Typical substrate types are Silicon, Fused Silica, III-V materials and polymer sheets and typical imprint polymers are PMMA, COC, COP, PC and PET. If required, NILT also offers pre and post processing of the substrates.

Nanocomposite Immunosensors To Diagnose Prostate Cancer

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The immunosensor can be used in clinical and medical diagnoses.It is vital to early diagnose cancer in order to improve the treatment for the patients. Nowadays, the need for reliable diagnosis tests has attracted the attention of many scientific societies in order to identify tumor markers in human serum.

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is known as a valuable biomarker for the treatment of patients who suffer from prostate cancer. The aim of this research was to design and to produce a nanocomposite by using carbon nanotubes and ionic liquids in order to be used in the production of sensitive, repeatable, simple, and cost-effective immunosensors for the measurement of tumor markers, especially, PSA tumor marker.

Sandwich connection was used in this research in order to measure PSA. In this method, the stabilized antibody firstly entraps the related analyte (antigen), then the entrapped antigen is identified and measured with the help of the second marked antibody. Sandwich method has very high selectivity and sensitivity because it uses two similar antibodies.

At the same time with its simplicity (the lack of the need for complicated synthesis procedures), the nanocomposite synthesized in this research increased the sensitivity in the process in comparison with other methods reported in the references due to its increase in the surface. The other advantage in the designing and production of immunosensors is that it does not need surface blocking materials such as bull albumin serum. The reduction in incubation time between antibody and antigen, and selectivity are among other characteristics of this immunosensor.

Nanobiotechnology

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Nanobiotechnology is that branch of nanotechnology that deals with biological and biochemical applications or uses. Nanobiotechnology often studies existing elements of living organisms and nature to fabricate new nano-devices.Generally, nanobiotechnology refers to the use of nanotechnology to further the goals of biotechnology.

The potential uses and benefits of nanotechnology are enormous. We are promised everything from the mundane things like better paints, self-cleaning windows to the bizarre tiny submarines that will glide through our veins destroying pathogens and parasites. Nano- systems in biology, the most complex and highly functional nano-scale materials and machines have been invented by nature. Proteins and nucleic acids, and other naturally occurring molecules (polymers) regulate and control biological systems with incredible precision. Ultra-strong or other clever materials are commonplace – from muscle glue, through spider’s silk, to water-repelling lotus leaves. Many nanotechnologists are in fact drawing inspiration from biology to device new materials and devices.

In environment protection, nano-science and engineering could significantly affect molecular understanding of nano-scale processes that take place in the environment; the generation and remediation of environmental problems through control of emissions; the development of new “green” technologies that minimize the production of undesirable by-products; and the remediation of existing waste sites and streams.

Application in life sciences research, particularly at the cell level sets the stage for role of nanobiotechnology in healthcare .Applications include systems for visualization, labeling, drug delivery, and cancer research. Technological impact of nanoscale systems, synthesis, and characterizations of nanoscale materials .

Nanoparticle Spectrometer

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The Nano-ID sets a new standard for high sensitivity and selectivity aerosol measurements. It provides the ability to measure particle size distributions over a range of 5nm to 500 nm with 128 user-selectable channels.A proprietary Corona charger system is used instead of traditional low-level radioactive sources.This completely eliminates all of the associated shipping and import/export restrictions, the need for special accommodations where the instrument will be used and stored, and personnel safety training and record keeping.

A large touch-screen display and intuitive user interface allow the measurement parameters to be configured and sampling to begin in a matter of minutes.The on-board computer allows unattended operation, data storage and processing. This product satisfies the long-standing need for a research-grade instrument that is portable and straightforward to integrate into application-specific testing and research.

Features:
  • Particle size distributions from 5 nm to 500 nm
  • Operator-selectable dual function Particle Counter Mode – operates as 5nm portable particle counter
  • Non-radioactive particle charging source
  • Fast scan speeds giving reliable results in as few as 30 seconds
  • Uses non-toxic, organic working fluid – provides up to 2,000 hours of operation between refills
  • Fast warm-up; begin sampling in 90 seconds
  • Large touch-screen user interface
  • Portable and self-contained, weighs only 7 kg
  • On-board data processing

Nanosponge

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A newly invented "nanosponge," sheathed in armor made of red blood cells, can safely remove a wide range of toxins from the bloodstream. Scientists at the University of California-San Diego inoculated some mice with their nanosponge, and then gave the animals otherwise lethal doses of a toxin--and the mice survived.

This is especially interesting because a nanosponge can work on entire classes of toxins. Most antidotes or treatments against venom, bioweapons or bacteria are targeted to counteract a specific molecular structure, so they can't be a one-size-fits-all solution; this nanosponge can.

Scientists led by Liangfang Zhang, a nanoengineering professor at UCSD, worked with a class of proteins known as pore-forming toxins, which work just the way they sound: By ripping a hole in a cell membrane. These toxins are found in snake venom, sea anemones, and even bacteria like the dreaded drug-resistant Staph aureus. The proteins come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all work in a similar way.

They designed a nanosponge to soak up any type of pore-forming toxins. It consists of a tiny (85-nanometer) plastic ball wrapped in red blood cell membranes, which basically serve as a decoy and soak up the poison. The plastic ball holds everything together, and keeps the protein away from its real cellular targets. The entire nanosponge is 3,000 times smaller than a full red blood cell. The devices had a half-life of about 40 hours when the team tested them on lab mice, according to a release from UCSD.

They injected mice with 70 times as many toxic proteins as nanosponges, and the sponges still neutralized the poison and caused no visible damage to the animals, the team reports. Next up are clinical trials in animals, to verify that it works safely in a wide range of cases.

Nanomembranes

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Nanomembranes are commonly made from organic polymer based nanocomposites with a thickness less than 100nm. Such nanomembranes include organic polymers combined with a mesh of silica nanoparticles. The size of the holes in the mesh restricts or allows the passage of different sized molecules.

Nanomembranes are commonly fabricated using Layer-by-Layer (LbL) assembly methods. This method give precise control over the in plane composition of the membrane and allows for the addition of a range of components to be added to the membrane. These components include nanoparticles and nanotubes that can tailor the mechanical, optical and electronic properties of the nanomembrane.

Applications for nanomembranes include :
  • Desalination of sea water
  • Purification of polluted water
  • Removal of carbon dioxide and other pollutants from exhaust gases
  • Sensors in MEMS
  • Carbon Nanomembranes

CNMs:
Carbon nanomembranes (CNMs) are similar to plastic films, but only 1 nanometer (1 millionths of 1 millimeter) in thickness. CNMs are the thinnest man-made polymeric membranes. Their thickness is fifty times thinner than commercial inorganic membranes and about five times thinner than biological lipid bilayers. CNMs constitute a new class of material with interesting properties that promise to lead to innovative products in many fields:
  • CNMs are 1 nm thin, mechanically stable – yet elastic – carbon-based films.
  • CNMs can be transferred to various surfaces or micro structures - including TEM-grids - to form free standing two-dimensional layers.
  • The two sides of CNMs can be chemically and biologically functionalized.
  • CNMs can be transformed into a single layer graphene.
  • Mechanical and chemical patterning of CNMs is possible according to customer specifications.
  • Perforation and chemical functionalization of CNMs allows nano-filtration.
  • Integration of CNMs into silicon chips or micro‑electromechanical systems (MEMS) is demonstrated.
  • Conductivity of CNMs can be tuned from insulating to conductive during production.

Nanoporous Materials

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A nanoporous material consists of either an organic and/or inorganic framework, which maintains a porous structure with a typically large surface area in excess of 400m2/g. Based on the definition by the International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), porous materials may be classified according to their pore diameters, namely, micropores (greater than 2nm), mesopores (between 2nm and 50nm) and macropores (less than 50nm).

Nanostructured Materials: 
  • Nanostructures represent the transition from atom to solid.
  • It is essential to obtain particles or pores with uniform diameters and shapes and, for the purpose of particular applications, to arrange and embed them in a superstructure.
  • Size quantization effects, high number of surface atoms, and special surface states.
  • Special optical, electronic, magnetic, and chemical properties.
  • Good applications in the areas of signal transmission, data and energy storage, catalysis, as well as biology
There are numerous applications of nanoporous materials, including gas storage, separation, and purification. In recent years, the number of available nanoporous materials has increased substantially, with new material classes, such as metal-organic frameworks and microporous organic polymers, joining the traditional adsorbents, which include activated carbons, porous silicas, and zeolites. The determination of the gas adsorption properties of these materials is critical to both the development of new materials for targeted applications and the assessment of the suitability of a material for a particular technology. 

Nanoporous materials are highly versatile and can used in various industrial applications ranging from catalytic reactions, adsorption and environmental processes due to the presence of voids of controllable dimension at the atomic, molecular and nanometer scales. As such, they are of interest to both chemical and environmental engineers, and with rising environmental concerns worldwide, the use of nanoporous materials in the removal of polluting species from different media as well as the recovery of useful ones has become more significant. This paper provides a general overview of the various types of nanoporous materials and their respective applications.

Nanopolymers

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Polymer nanocomposites are polymers that contain fillers of nanoparticles dispersed throughout the polymer matrix. Exhibiting a wide range of enhanced mechanical properties, these materials have great potential for a broad range of biomedical and material applications. However, rational design has been hampered by a lack of detailed understanding of how they respond to stress at the micro- and nanoscale.

Nanopolymers with different structures, shapes, and functional forms have recently been prepared using several techniques. Nanopolymers are the most promising basic building blocks for mounting complex and simple hierarchical nanosystems. The applications of nanopolymers are extremely broad and polymer-based nanotechnologies are fast emerging. We propose a nanopolymer classification scheme based on self-assembled structures, non self-assembled structures, and on the number of dimensions in the nanometer range (nD).

Applications:
  • Waterborne paints
  • Adhesives
  • Coatings
  • Redispersible latices
  • Pressure sensitive adhesives
  • Biotechnology
  • Biomedical products
  • Drug delivery
  • Medical diagnostics
  • Problem solving
  • Electronics
  • Magnetics
  • Optoelectronics

Nanowires & Nanorods

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Nanowires and Nanorods of metallic and semiconducting materials have drawn a lot of research interest because of their unique physical properties. Nanowires have two quantum-confined dimensions and one unconfined dimension. therefore, the electrical conduction behaviour of nanowires is different from that of their bulk counterpart. In nanowires, electronic conduction takes place both by bulk conduction and through tunneling mechanism Properties.

Nanowires can display the properties of a metal, an insulator or a semiconductor, depending on the materials that make up the tiny structures. Metals conduct electric currents well, and insulators are not conductive. Semiconductors fall somewhere between; they carry some charges when the conditions are right. Semiconductors are most useful in making transistors for computers. When configured correctly, they can become switches or amplifiers of electricity. Semiconducting nanowires allow engineers to make very tiny transistors.

Some nanowires are ballistic conductors, or the type that allow electrons to pass without allowing them to collide with the conductor's atoms. Because of this, they don't create heat as other conductors do.

Applications:
Nanowires may also play an important role in nano-size devices like nanorobots. Nanowires may play an important role in the field of quantum computers.Au nanowires are used to assemble biological species.For instance, they can be used as a master (mould) in nano-imprinting, and as a masking layer for dry etching (patterning transfer) into other materials. the nanowires have been used as building blocks for electronics, optics, mechanics, and sensing technology.

Nano Particles

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In nanotechnology, a particle is defined as a small object that behaves as a whole unit in terms of its transport and properties. It is further classified according to size: In terms of diameter, fine particles cover a range between 100 and 2500 nanometers, while ultrafine particles, on the other hand, are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers. 

Similarly to ultrafine particles, nanoparticles are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers, though the size limitation can be restricted to two dimensions. Nanoparticles may or may not exhibit size-related properties that differ significantly from those observed in fine particles or bulk materials .

Nanoclusters have at least one dimension between 1 and 10 nanometers and a narrow size distribution. Nanopowders are agglomerates of ultrafine particles, nanoparticles, or nanoclusters. Nanometer sized single crystals, or single-domain ultrafine particles, are often referred to as nanocrystals. Nanoparticle research is currently an area of intense scientific research, due to a wide variety of potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. The National Nanotechnology Initiative has led to generous public funding for nanoparticle research in the United States.

NanoBioSensors

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Our research focuses on the development of sensors constructed using nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and indium oxide nanowires. There are several types of nanobiosensor. Several nanobiosensors have been fabricated using nanocantilevers, nanoparticles, or quantum dots but these need to be couple to an optical detection method. The most promising nanobiosensors are the those based the electrocnic detection of the target molecule such as field effect transistor nanosensors (FET). These devices are still in the early stages of development but have made impressive progress over the past 5 years. Each single nanobiosensor is capable of identifying the specific biomarker for which it was designed. Large arrays entailing hundreds of FET nanobiosensors could be constructed to fit on the tip of a needle for a very broad screening of biomarkers and other medically useful biomolecules. For instance, in the field of oncology, dozens or even hundreds of biomarkers of specific tumours could be monitored and the presence of a growing tumour can be detected while the cancer is still in very early stages of growth -- months, if not years, before it could be detected using currently available diagnostic imaging technologies. FET nanobiosensors are highly specific to their targets and produce a signal in a very short period of time (generally a few seconds); consequently, the need for laboratory-based analysis could be substantially reduced.

The "sensing element" of a Field Effect Transistor (FET) nanobiosensor is the semiconductor channel (nanowire) of the transistor. This channel is fabricated using nanosized materials such as carbon nanotubes, metal oxide nanowires (ex: In2O3), or Si nanowires. A unique property of these materials is the very high surface to volume ratio: a very large portion of the atoms are located on the surface for the nanowires whereas all the atoms are surface atoms in the case of carbon nanotubes. Because of this, the nanowire/nanotube becomes extremely sensitive to the environment and to everything coming in close contact to its surface.

A specific recognition group can be used to coat the surface of the nanowire/nanotube, making the device specifically sensitive only to a particular target. This recognition group could be a single stranded DNA (capable of recognizing its complementary strand), an antibody (that recognize a particular antigene), an aptamer that shows affinity for a unique target, or a protein that specifically interact with another biological molecule. The presence of this recognition group on the nanowire surface gives to the device high specificity and exclusivity toward its target.

Once the nanowire based transistor has been coated with a specific recognition group, the device is ready to function as a nanobiosensor. In a working nanobiosensor, the current flowing throught the nanowire is monitored versus time. Initially, some voltage is applied between the transistor's source and drain and the resulting current is used asbaseline signal. At this point the device is contact with some physiological solution but the target molecule is not present.

The target biomolecule is usually a charged molecule in aqueous media. These charges can act as chemical gate for the transistor, modifying its electrical properties. These charges influence the current flow in the nanowire by injecting holes or electron. Once the target molecule interacts with the surface of the nanowire/nanotube, the current flowing through the nanowire either decreases or increases (depending on the type of charge injected). This is the signal that alert the analyst about the presence of biomolecule for which the nanobiosensor was designed.

These two NanoBioSensors were designed to detect the presence of the PSA protein, a biomarker used in oncology to monitor the growth of prostate cancer. The top device was fabricated using a single Indium Oxide nanowire whereas the bottom device was made with a mat of carbon nanotubes. After having established a baseline current we added: a drop of buffer solution to check how the mechanical disturbance would affected the baseline signal; a solution containing the BSA protein, a non-target molecule for which our device did not show any response; a solution containing the PSA protein, which, upon interacting with the device surface, caused the conductivity to change (positive response).

Nanopowder

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Nanopowder is a material fabricated on the nanoscale with grain and feature sizes typically under 100 nanometres. The basis of nanotechnology is the ability to form nano-sized particles, for example nanopowders, which are solid particles that measure on the nanoscale.  Nanopowders have been of extreme interest in the pharmaceutical field. Drug delivery has been impacted in several ways due to the advances in nanopowder technology

Production of Nanopowder
  • Conventional Methods
    - Milling, grinding, jet milling, crushing, and air micronization
  • Super Critical Fluids (SCF)
  • Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS)
  • Supercritical Anti-Solvent (SAS)
  •  Aerosol Solvent Extraction System (ASES)
  • Solution Enhanced Dispersion by Supercritical fluids (SEDS)
  • Particles from Gas Saturated Solutions (PGSS)
  • Depressurization of Expanded Liquid Organic Solution (DELOS)

Conventional Methods

Conventional methods of particle size reduction include milling, grinding, jet milling, crushing, and air micronization. CM might not accomplish the desired amount of particle size reduction.
CM drawback is associated with the physical and chemical properties of the materials undergoing size reduction. Certain compounds are chemically sensitive or thermo-liable, such as explosives, chemical intermediates, or pharmaceuticals which can not be processed using conventional methods due to the physical effects of these methods.

Applications of Nanopowders
 
Nanopowder has many applications in different fields.
  1. Ceramics used in nano sized powders are more ductile at elevated temperatures compared to coarse grained ceramics at low temperatures
  2.  Nano sized powders of iron and copper have hardness about 4-6 times higher than the bulk materials because bulk materials have dislocations.
  3. Nano sized copper and silver are used in conducting ink and polymers.
  4. Nano powder has various applications in the pharmaceutical and medical field.
  5. Drug delivery has impacted by the advancement in nano powders smaller particles are able to be delivered in new ways to patients, through solutions, oral or injected, and aerosol, inhaler or respirator.
  6. New production processes allow for encapsulation of pharmaceuticals which allow for drug delivery where needed with in the body.

Nanowire Sensors

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A sensor is a device which receives and responds to a signal.Nanowire sensors are those which are made up of Nanowires.They have high detection sensitivity and response time.

Electronic Nose Concept

An electronic nose is a device intended to detect odors and flavors.Electronic sensing- capability of reproducing human senses using sensor arrays and pattern recognition systems.

E- Nose Principle

Electronic nose consists of three major systems.Sample Delivery system - Generates headspace and injects them into the detection system.Detection or Sensing system-”reactive part” which detects the change of electrical properties and converts them into a digital signal.Computing system- It combines all the inputs from various sensors which represents the input for data treatment.

Advantages of Using Nanowires in detecting systems
  • When Nanowire sensors are used in making sensor arrays
  • Accuracy is maintained in detecting charges and electric field changes.
  • Recorded signals will be more precise.
  • Reaction of headspace with the sensors increase due to large area of contact.
  • The transistors in MOSFET will not have any exceptions which are normally encountered with conventional ones.
  • The problem of obtaining incorrect results due to mismatching of the samples with original database are eliminated since they are compared from a nano level.

Applications of Electronic Nose
  • The electronic Nose instruments find a large number of applications in
  • Research & Development
  • laboratories.
  • Quality Control
  • Laboratories.
  • Process and production
  • Departments
Other Areas Involved
They are also used to analyze in certain areas & companies like:Flavor and Fragrance,Food and Beverages,Packaging,Pharmaceuticals.Chemicals,Cosmetics and Perfumes.
Thus Electronic Nose is a wonderful Boon for the future of Electronics.By using Nanowire Sensors the applications of Electronic Nose are made enormous and effective.

Fabrication of Nanowires at Surfaces

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The Nanowire is a solid, cylindrical wire with a diameter usually less than 100 nm.Fabrication of Nanowires at surfaces.Nanowires are just like normal electrical wires other than the fact that they are extremely small. Like conventional wires, nanowires can be made from a variety of conducting and semiconducting materials like copper, silver, gold, iron, silicon, zinc oxide and germanium. Nanowires can also be made from carbon nanotubes.

The goal of this project is the design of artificial materials that consist of ultrafine wires or linear arrays of dots, ten to hundred times finer than those produced with commercial micro-structure fabrication techniques. In fact, we have gone all the way down to atom chains which may be viewed as the ultimate nanowires (scroll to the bottom for those). These patterns are formed by self-assembly, where atoms arrange themselves naturally at stepped silicon surfaces.

An important aspect in fabricating nanowires is the ability to prepare wires of an any material on any substrate with any thickness. In particular, using silicon wafers as substrate is highly-desirable. To achieve this goal we suggest the following "universal" process. First, a silicon substrate with a regular array of steps is prepared (A). Then, stripes (B) or dots (C) of a passivating material are attached to the step edges. This part is analogous to creating a photoresist mask in traditional lithography. As mask material we use calcium fluoride, which is lattice-matched to silicon and chemically inert. Eventually, the desired material is deposited on the remaining silicon, for example by substrate-selective chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or electroplating. Alternatively, calcium fluoride could become useful as an etch mask for producing trenches in the silicon that can be filled with new materials to achieve a planar structure.

Applications:
Nanowires show promise for use in applications including:

•        Exceptionally small electronic circuits

•        Memory devices

•        Transistors

•        Advanced composite materials

•        Quantum devices

•        Biomolecular nanosensors

•        MEMS

•        Optoelectronics

•        Field Emitters

•        Photon Ballistic Waveguides

NanoCatalysis

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Catalysis is one of the longest-established uses for nano particles. Aluminium, iron, titanium dioxide, clays, and silica have all been used as catalysts in nanoparticle form for many years.
 
Nanocatalysis is a rapidly growing field which involves the use of nano materials as catalysts for a variety of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis applications. Heterogeneous catalysis represents one of the oldest commercial practices of nanoscience; nanoparticles of metals, semiconductors, oxides, and other compounds have been widely used for important chemical reactions.

Although surface science studies have contributed significantly to our fundamental understanding of catalysis, most commercial catalysts, are still produced by "mixing, shaking and baking" mixtures of multi-components; their nanoscale structures are not well controlled and the synthesis-structure-performance relationships are poorly understood. Due to their complex physico-chemical properties at the nanometer scale, even characterization of the various active sites of most commercial catalysts proves to be elusive.

Application:   

Green diesel production using Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis (FTS)
 Process Improvements: 
  • Improving the FTS technology for production of high molecular weight waxes, followed by their hydrocracking to generate liquid fuels 
  • Improved efficiency of slurry and fixed-bed reactors, used in FTS from biosyngas 
  • Produce long, linear-chain paraffin waxes in fixed bed & slurry FTS reactors
    Catalyst.
  • Nano Fe and Co powders (10-50 nm) are used as FTS catalysts in slurry reactors, promoted by other metals like Mn, Cu & alkalis 
  • Produced by thermal plasma chemical vapor deposition (TPCVD) and cluster spray techniques 
  • Minimize liquid-solid diffusion resistance 
  • Multi-walled carbon nanofilaments (MWCNF), produced by CO2 sequestration via dry reforming for gas-to-liquid FTS, with the iron carbide content rendering catalytic activity.

Nano Deposition - Stencils

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The distribution behaviour of solder paste is improved and optimized by the use of a nano-deposition in addition to an electro-polish.Without delay after the laser manufacture you can let your stencil undergo a deposition.

In contrast to the competition this can be done at a sensational price-benefit ratio!

Solder residues stick less firmly to or not at all to the pads due to this additional deposition. Consequently, the stencils are even simpler and quicker to clean. This has been confirmed by a number of users, after extensive tests with coated stencils in the production line.

A nano-deposition can be deposited on stainless steel as well as nickel stencils. Usually is a one coating sufficient for several tens of thousands of printing processes. A repeat treatment is at all times possible.

Nano-biosystems

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Nano-biosystems is a field that includes both the use of nanotechnology in biological systems and utilization of biological or bio-mimetic techniques in nanotechnology. Nano-biotechnology shows a tremendous promise of improving the quality of life. For example, nano-vehicles might deliver drugs directly to targeted cells, nano-membranes may be used for development of cheap, effective water purification systems, or nano-chips that interface neurons with electronics may become common place. Additionally, Nano-Electro Mechanical Systems (NEMS) might use sensors and physical controls to stabilize individuals with heart, kidney or liver disease.

Impact of Nanotechnology on medicine

The impact of nanotechnology on cancer and other diseases depends on the design and
construction of devices to diagnose, treat, and monitor disease at all stages. In addition, new tools and devices are needed to understand the processes behind the development and
spread of a disease and to reverse or alter the progress of the disease.

Through a more comprehensive understanding of the bio-nano interface, nanomedicine will
mature into a higher-throughput and more predictable endeavor. This new branch of
medicine will revolutionize the way medicine is practiced, create a new pipeline of diagnostic
and therapeutic capabilities for the pharmaceutical industry, and catalyze extraordinary
advances in molecular and cell biology.

The most promising future nano science-based applications in medicine are
ultra sensitive and selective multiplexed diagnostics, drug delivery, targeted treatment of
cancer and other diseases, body imaging, tissue/organ regeneration, and gene therapy. All of
these applications combine engineering advances with improved strategies for manipulating
biological systems. New approaches for drug delivery, imaging, and diagnostics will be
refined and developed, and more sophisticated nano-therapeutics and diagnostics will
supplement those already in clinical use or in clinical trials. To facilitate this development, it
will be necessary to implement new manufacturing approaches. All new products must
address stringent safety and compatibility standards that are being challenged by the novel
properties of engineered nanomaterials and the potential that these may introduce new
biohazards.

Nanobiosystems design and applications

1. Functional nanomaterials
2. Inorganic/biologic hybrid composites and nanoparticles
3. Development of new technologies and tools for the detection, identification, quantification, and monitoring of molecules, cells and tissues of clinical and biomedical relevance.

Future Vision
 
  • Develop point-of-care nanodevices for early diagnosis and therapeutic response monitoring capable of using unprocessed bodily fluids with multiplexing and rapid analysis capabilities.
  • Develop diagnostic and post-therapy monitoring nanodevices for the detection and interrogation of circulating tumor cells and circulating tumor initiating cells.
  • Conduct successful clinical trials for nanoparticle delivery of siRNA molecules and other nucleic acid therapeutics.
  • Demonstrate novel nanoparticle-based drug formulations with significant improvement in targeting therapeutic windows as compared to free drug delivery.
  • Design particles to enable penetration of the blood-brain-barrier and enable more effective treatment of brain tumors.
  • Leverage nanotechnology-based studies of cell migration and cell motility for the development of anti-metastatic drugs.


Research Focus

Activities include the development of new technologies and tools for the detection, identification, quantification, and monitoring of molecules, cells and tissues of clinical and biomedical relevance. Research focuses in:
  • Micro-Nano systems for diagnosis.
  • On-chip environmental health monitoring.
  • Nano-Bio-Electronic Interfaces.
  • NanoBioFuel cells.
  • Nanobioelectrochemistry.

Nano Electronics

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Nanoelectronics refer to the field of study which is concerned with understanding, exploring and exploiting the characteristics of devices and instruments, which have directional dimensions at the nano scale. Its one of the most powerful and useful study which has helped engineers to implement new properties. it is used for building the nano electronics components just like transistors. Devices and machines are developed at the rate of 100 nanometers which is extremely small and efficient rate for processing. Nano electronics is also known as the disruptive technology because of its various properties.

Approaches in Nanoelectronics

There are essentially two different approaches to creating very small devices.

  1. Firstly there is the increasingly precise 'top-down' approach of finely machining and finishing the materials, which can be compared to a sculptor carving a statue out of marble.
  2. The second approach is called the 'bottom-up' approach, where individual atoms and molecules are placed or are self-assembled precisely where they are needed. This is a close approximation to understanding how nature works. For many years chemists have been using the 'bottom-up' approach to synthesis molecules to produce millions of different molecular structures. Nanotechnology researches have been developing a set of techniques known as molecular self-assembly and produced nanoelectronic components, such as molecular switches, molecular wires and molecular transistor.

Future perception of Nanoelectronics
 
Nanoelectronics is flourishing its manufacturing day by day scientists are exploring new characteristics of natural resources with the help of nanaoelectronics. Smallest featured integrated circuit chip which are further inserted into robots are the inventions of nanaoelectronics. Micro electronics is also evolving gradually in the nano electronics which would of great use to the technological world in the coming future. Researchers are now predicting that intelligent devices like computers will be assembled in the future by using molecules which would be the major achievement of nanoelectronics.

Recent Update in Nano electronics

Better Nanostructures for Advanced Electronics through Breakthrough Nanofabrication Technique. An international group of researchers from the University of Minnesota, Argonne National Laboratory and Seoul National University have discovered a groundbreaking technique in manufacturing nanostructures that has the potential to make electrical and optical devices smaller and better than ever before. A surprising low-tech tool of Scotch Magic tape ended up being one of the keys to the discovery.

Nanostructured Materials

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Nanostructured surfaces can be broadly defined as substrates in which the typical features have dimensions in the range 1–100 nm (although the upper limit of 100 nm may be relaxed to greater sizes in some cases, depending on the material and the specific property being investigated). The recent surge of interest in these systems stems from the remarkable effects that may arise from the critical size reduction. Interesting novel properties (catalytic, magnetic, ferroelectric, mechanical, optical and electronic) occur as we reduce the dimensions from a practically infinite (and periodic) solid crystal to a system composed of a relatively small number of atoms. So far, nanostructured materials or nanomaterials are perhaps the only sub-field of nanoscience that has made the transition from fundamental science to real world applications, thus becoming a technology (a good example of this are nanostructured surface coatings)

Nanostructured Holograms:
Nanostructured Holograms for Broadband Manipulation of Vector Beams. Nanostructured device controls the intensity, phase, and polarization of light for wide applications in optics.Applied physicists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have demonstrated that they can change the intensity, phase, and polarization of light rays using a hologram-like design decorated with nanoscale structures.

As a proof of principle, the researchers have used it to create an unusual state of light called a radially polarized beam, which—because it can be focused very tightly—is important for applications like high-resolution lithography and for trapping and manipulating tiny particles like viruses.This is the first time a single, simple device has been designed to control these three major properties of light at once.

Nanostructured carbon materials:
Irradiating solids with energetic particles is usually thought to introduce disorder, normally an undesirable phenomenon. But recent experiments on electron or ion irradiation of various nanostructures demonstrate that it can have beneficial effects and that electron or ion beams may be used to tailor the structure and properties of nanosystems with high precision. Moreover, in many cases irradiation can lead to self-organization or self-assembly in nanostructures. In this review we survey recent advances in the rapidly evolving area of irradiation effects in nanostructured materials, with particular emphasis on carbon systems because of their technological importance and the unique ability of graphitic networks to reconstruct under irradiation. We dwell not only on the physics behind irradiation of nanostructures but also on the technical applicability of irradiation for nanoengineering of carbon and other systems.

Nanotech Engineering

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In simple terms, nanotechnology can be defined as ‘engineering at a very small scale’, and this term can be applied to many areas of research and development – from medicine to manufacturing to computing, and even to textiles and cosmetics. It can be difficult to imagine exactly how this greater understanding of the world of atoms and molecules has and will affect the everyday objects we see around us, but some of the areas where nanotechnologies are set to make a difference are described below.

Sub-Areas:

The field is loosely divided into four subareas: micro and nano instruments, nanoelectronics, nano-biosystems, and nanoengineered materials. The first addresses some of the most far-reaching yet practical applications of miniature instruments for measuring atoms or molecules in chemical, clinical, or biochemical analysis; in biotechnology for agent detection; and environmental analysis. The second category, nano electronics, concerns the development of systems and materials required for the electronics industry to go beyond current technological limits – producing even finer detail than features in a high-performance microprocessor chip. Also in this category is a new generation of electronics based on plastics, which is expected to create new markets with applications ranging from smart cards to tube-like computers. The third class, nano-bio systems, can be described as molecular manipulation of biomaterials and the associated miniaturization of analytical devices such as DNA, peptide, protein, and cell chips. The last subarea, nanoengineered materials, looks at several classes of advanced materials including nano crystalline materials and nanopowders used in electronics and photonics applications, as catalysts in automobiles, in the food and pharmaceutical industries, as membranes for fuel cells, and for industrial-scale polymers.

Future Impact:

For many, nanotechnology is viewed as merely a way to make stronger and lighter tennis rackets, baseball bats, hockey sticks, racing bikes, and other athletic equipment. But nanotechnology promises to do so much more. A more realistic view is that it will leave virtually no aspect of life untouched and is expected to be in widespread use by 2020. Mass applications are likely to have great impact particularly in industry, medicine, new computing systems, and sustainability.

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